


Worker, Warrior, Religious

by shadowsamurai



Category: Babylon 5
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, F/M, Friendship, Gen, M/M, soul mates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-28
Updated: 2012-12-28
Packaged: 2017-11-22 18:56:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/613132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowsamurai/pseuds/shadowsamurai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They were friends at the very least - always had been, always would be. Three, yet one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Worker, Warrior, Religious

**Author's Note:**

> This has been knocking around on my computer since a few days after the sad news that Michael O'Hare had passed away. I wanted to write a tribute fic to my favourite character, Jeff Sinclair, but couldn't think of an idea. I have no idea where this one came from or even if it works. But it's finished, I'm happy with it, so here goes....
> 
> Oh, and I don't own anything.

It never occurred to him it would, or *could*, happen this way. In fact, nothing like this – any aspect whatsoever – had ever occurred to him...ever. Yet it must have been possible because he was living it, had lived it for many years, and would live it again.

“You're over thinking again.” The voice is gentle, even calming. The language is foreign but not. The hands on his shoulders soft but tough.

He misses hair. Misses how it feels to have fingers run through it, playing with it, and as though reading his thoughts, strong fingers begin to massage his bare scalp. Usually it relaxes him, and today should be no exception...yet it is. It has to be. Today is the end of everything, for him at least.

“That frown is a look I haven't seen in a while.”

A different voice, just as familiar, but with a hint of mischief. And though they have different names, different appearances...indeed, different personalities now, some things remain the same, because they wish it so. Whatever they are outside, behind closed doors that are who they used to be, and will be again.

Susan sighs, her hands settling back on his shoulders. “Jeff, what is it? And don't say nothing.”

A pause, only seconds but seeming like a lifetime. “I can't tell you, though I know I should.”

Michael eyes him critically. “This is another of those damned heroic things, isn't it?” Being a Minbari and speaking their dialect never suited him really, but he manages.

Jeff sighs, an echo of Susan's action just a moment ago, and stands, distancing himself from them in more ways than one. “Not exactly. More like a natural thing.”

Susan gets it first; she always was better at reading him. “Why now?”

“Because it's time.”

Michael looks from one to the other and back again. He is by no means slow, more like stubbornly refusing to accept the elephant that is staring him in the face. “Time for what?”

“For me to go, Michael,” Jeff says gently.

Michael is still staring. “I'm getting the weirdest sense of deja vu.”

“This time you can't come with me.”

It's a command, an order, and although it carries the tone of Valen, it also has serious undercurrents of Commander Jeffrey Sinclair. Because Jeff is both, separate and inseparable. He always felt he had a destiny, just didn't realise it would something as colossal as this, and while he was right about that and a lot of other things, he was wrong about one: he wasn't alone. No one was more shocked than him when it happened, when Susan came to stand next to him on the command deck of Babylon 4, staying with him when she should have been leaving. When Michael appeared on the White Star, despite extremely clear orders to go back to Babylon 5, when he refused to go despite knowing the risks of what was about to happen. Sheridan's face had been grim set and unreadable, the knowledge he wasn't just losing one person but three tough to believe and accept. But Delenn...Delenn just nodded, like she knew. And when they appeared in the far past as Minbari, it was like they had always been such, separate and inseparable from human and Minbari, from each other.

“Like hell I can't,” Michael snaps, his temper getting the better of him despite his many years of meditation training.

Strangely, Jeff doesn't say anything, just hangs his head, almost as though he is defeated before he has even started, but Susan knows what it means. He's in pain, a physical ache at having to leave them behind, and she quickly crosses to him, putting her arms around his broad shoulders, resting her head on his back.

“We understand,” she whispers, catching Michael's eye. He looks like he's about to object, but silences himself at the last minute, reading an awful lot in her silent gaze. Slowly, as though it hurts him too, he walks towards them.

“Alright,” he says, his voice hoarse, as he wraps his arms around Jeff and Susan, and in that moment, just for a few seconds, the rest of the world ceases to exist for them. They love each other, nothing more, nothing less, and this is their last moment together. They never expected their lives would turn out this way, but they also wouldn't change it for anything.

“It's time,” Jeff murmurs eventually, not wanting to break the spell but also not wanting to delay the inevitable.

“Right now?” Michael asks. He can't help himself.

Again, it is Susan who answers. “It's for the best. For all of us.”

Jeff smiles as they separate. “At least you still have each other.”

For emphasis, Susan nods and Michael puts his arm around her shoulder. “You should go.”

Without glancing back, Jeff leaves the room, pulling his hood into place as he does. Just as when he left Babylon 5 the first time, and when he knew he had to go back with Babylon 4, he doesn't hesitate, he just does it. It is his duty, his burden, his destiny, and it must be done.

He makes a quick pass through an empty temple before heading to where his ship is waiting for him. He doesn't need guidance, but he does want some assurance that Susan and Michael will be alright. They are his life, whether he is living it or not. No one sees him, and if they do, they don't speak to him. His reputation even now is such that he is to be revered, and he still finds that difficult to accept.

The journey into space is uneventful, though he wasn't really sure what to expect. In fact, why he had to go into space in the first place was unclear as well, except that he felt an inexplicable tug to the emptiness of it. Or at least it would be empty, if there wasn't another ship on his radar. For a wild moment he suspects Susan and Michael have followed him, but he knows they wouldn't disobey his last wishes in such a blatant way. Then the ship hails him. Two visitors absolutely must come aboard urgently. He briefly thinks about saying no, but decides even if he did, they would find a way to get on the ship even if it meant burning through the hull. Either that or that would blow it up and then self-destruct their own ship. That would not surprise him.

He meets them in the docking bay, all ready to yell and tell them exactly what he thinks of them. Yet when he sees them, sees their expressions and the pain in their eyes, he doesn't say a thing. He just holds them and they hold him, and he realises he was wrong. He should never have tried to do this alone. Just as they were meant to come back in time with him, they were meant to be with him now.

“I love you,” Jeff says, kissing them both.

“We love you too,” Susan replies, putting her palm against his cheek.

Michael holds his gaze. “This is where we belong. With you. Where you go, we go.”

Jeff just nods. “I know...now. Now I understand.”

“So, now what do we do?” Susan asks after a while.

Jeff shrugs. “Wait, I suppose.”

“I hate waiting,” Michael grumbles.

Jeff looks at him fondly. “Patience never was your strong suit.”

“You have enough patience to level a planet,” Michael points out. “What do I need it for?”

Susan rolls her eyes. “Boys.”

“*Your* boys,” Jeff tells her.

“Yes, you are.”

“We are three, but we are one.” They stare at Michael. “What?”

“You wait until now to decide to actually sound like a Minbari?” Susan shakes her head.

Jeff starts laughing. It seems to make perfect sense to him. The others join in, the sound joyous, and the flash of light that engulfs them happens so suddenly that they don't have time to register what is going on before it is all over....

B5-B5-B5-B5-B5-B5

The first time Jeff meets Michael, there's no great spark of recognition, no blinding sense of deja vu, but there is an inexplicable sense of brotherhood. After they crashed in the desert (Michael says it's Jeff's fault, Jeff blames Michael and makes it stick because he holds a higher rank), they talk about a great many things as they head back to civilisation. Jeff learns Michael has a wicked sense of humour; Michael learns Jeff would happily be a willing accomplice to any gag pulled, with the right victim. Both being loners, they're surprised how quickly they become good friends, and when Jeff is offered B5, he asks Michael to go with him. Despite his relationship with Lise, Michael agrees without hesitation, shocking himself and Lise.

Jeff and Michael's friendship grows day by day, and the only time they disagree is when Jeff places himself in unnecessary (in Michael's eyes) danger. But both feel as if something is missing. They never discuss it, but somehow each knows the other is experiencing the sense of emptiness which can't be explained.

Until the day they meet Susan.

The sound of recognition for all three of them is quite earth-shattering, and while they don't understand why, they accept that it's important. Susan also accepts Jeff's orders without question, no matter what they are, something she's never done before; she is, at times, rather opinionated and not afraid to show it.

One day, off duty, they meet in the Zocalo. Jeff had meant to bridge the subject of the connection between the three of them, to try and make sense of what was happening, and from the expressions on Michael and Susan's faces, they were of a similar mind. Yet when they sat down and really looked at each other, they realised words weren't always necessary. Never had been, never would be.

*Worker. Warrior. Religious.*

Michael raises his glass first, followed by Susan, and then Jeff, all nodding to each other in agreement to the silent statement they all heard.

Off to one side, out of their sight, Delenn smiles. Everything is just as it should be. Turning, she sees Kosh watching them as well, and sensing her gaze upon him, he turns towards her. As Delenn bows in respect, she hears Kosh's voice as clear as day in her head.

*'And so, it begins.'*

FIN


End file.
